My fondest food memories are comprised of walking through the streets of Seoul with my cousins or aunt and eating red hot dduk bok gi from food stands, bursting out with tortured laughter between bites and gulps of water. The stuff can get REALLY hot! And we love it that way. We love it so much that one of my cousins theoretically gave herself digestive problems from eating dduk bok gi so often. (She claimed she had an ulcer from dduk bok gi consumption).

Of course there is the mild kind, too–with soy sauce marinade and bulgogi. So delicious as well, but oh so different. I first ate the mild ddukbokgi variant at my cousin’s house–I was surprised to see the rice cakes swimming in a sauce that was NOT red and bubbling, but I ate them ravenously, just the same. Maybe I just love rice cakes.

Still, nothing tops the fiery red spicy dduk bok gi, the stuff that sets your mouth on fire, the stuff with just a hint of sweetness, the stuff that is reminiscent of the foodstands on the streets of Seoul.

Even today, I seek out spicy dduk-bok-gi, such a comfort food. I’ll go to the Korean market and buy myself some, quickly down it for lunch (with a glass of water). But you can make your own, too.

Apparently there are two ways to spell this wonderfully custardy holiday time beverage: “egg nog” or “eggnog.”

I’ve always bought my eggnog from the store throughout the years, our recipe for eggnog being the comical, “Open box, pour into glass, drink!” We looooove eggnog. And it is purely a holiday time drink, because you can’t buy eggnog in a carton except for during the holidays.

But this year, out of pure curiosity, I decided to make a batch at home, complete with whipped egg topping and grated nutmeg. My reaction: OH.MY.G*D. It was AWESOME. Sorry, I can’t get more eloquent than that (I’ve had a couple cups now and am officially tipsy).

Though unnecessary, I decided to do a taste test against some store bought eggnog–the store bought eggnog was entirely bland (though nice and thick) and tasteless in the wake of homemade eggnog which just tastes so fresh and sparkles with each of the ingredients.

I made my egg nog very lightly alcoholic but you can certainly add more liquor if you please. Enjoy!!!!!

(btw, if you have problems with eggs in your area, don’t make this–the eggs are raw in this recipe)

I looove persimmon trees, especially when all the leaves have fallen off and all that remain are the bright orange fruit hanging off the bare branches. It is one of my favorite Autumnal sights, a fruit laden persimmon tree under a gray sky.

If you’re reading carefully–you’ve noticed I write “I love persimmon _trees_.” Not so much the fruit–even though I am ethnically Korean and that almost obligates me to love persimmons. My parents love the fruit so much they had several persimmon trees in our backyard and because of their overeager urging to eat persimmons, I may have rebelled. I never grew to love the fruit.

Since my friends’ gift, I have learned that it’s fuyu persimmons I don’t like (my parents ate, almost exclusively, fuyu persimmons, which can be eaten when firm). Of course, I learned this the hard way, first biting into the hachiya persimmons when hard.

Ack!

The tannic, bitter fruit besieged my mouth, my tastebuds–I quickly gargled with water. No dice. There was a sickening coating all over my mouth, a sensation that felt like corduroy jeans, and a taste–bleah.

Hachiya persimmons MUST be eaten when super squishy, when they appear as if they’ll totally fall to pieces, when the fruit is “liquidy.” Then, and only then, are they soooo yummy and sweet and delicious and juicy. I am so buying hachiya persimmons, go forward.

And thankfully, I made this discovery not too far into persimmon season. There are still persimmons left to enjoy! And if you’re still hesitant to eat the fruit while fresh, you can do as I’ve done all these years: use the fruit in baked goods.

The above sandwich is Bakesale Betty’s fried chicken sandwich. In our household, it is a sandwich categorized as “legendary.” Nothing beats it. We just kick ourselves for not discovering Bakesale Betty’s and her fried chicken sandwich sooner.

Just look at the picture–that’s absolute food porn!

Let’s look at it from another angle:

See the layers? The buttermilk drenched fried chicken breast? The tangy spicy cole slaw? The wonderful Acme torpedo roll? It all adds up to a series of heavenly bites. Much has been made of the sandwich’s nearly 1,000 calorie total, but it is worth every calorie. Just eat a light dinner and/or take a walk. Or eat half a sandwich. Nothing good in life is free, right?

(and a note: they often sell out of sandwiches everyday by 2pm, so do not dawdle).

And because the name of the place is “Bakesale Betty’s,” the fried chicken sandwich is not the only wonderful thing to devour there. There are numerous baked goods that top the charts, such as their chicken pot pie.

According to our household chicken pot pie aficionado and fan, it’s a tremendously yummy chicken pot pie. It has a wonderfully flaky crust. So flaky, that I’m going to try their pies. I’d have tried them by now, but I’m pacing myself. And quite honestly, I can never avoid the fried chicken sandwich, thus hindering my progress with pastry consumption.

My husband, not known for liking dessert, likes their sticky date pudding:

Bakesale Betty’s is located on 51st and Telegraph avenues in Oakland–there is no sign on their store, but you’ll notice the line out the door. That’s how I noticed it at first (“What is that place? Everybody in the world is there everyday!”)

Don’t take as long as I did to check it out. And oh, about that line? It goes fairly quickly,Bakesale Betty’s has their process down very well…and they give out samples to those waiting in line. I’m not talking little bites, either–but ENTIRE cookies. When I’ve gone, I’ve seen them hand out ginger cookies, pecan cookies, and mega pieces of their wonderful lemon bars.

Plus, when you get to order, you’ll encounter the charming staff, some of whom will you address you by, “My love.” You can never hear that phrase enough in life. You’ll walk out with both your stomach and heart full.

When you’re on a road trip, the day is punctuated by milestones–whether they be sights, destinations, or meals. I love road trips.

Being on the road is one of the few situations where I begin to relax and toss my “rules” out the window. There are no firm schedules, and we’re constantly hitting unknown territory. Oh yes, there may be a beginning and end point to the trip, but in between? Anything can happen, and we’re open to it.

So it goes with food as well. We’ve had bad road food, and terrific road food. Though we’ve mostly consumed predictable and consistent fast food from McD’s and Taco Bell, the longer the road trip, the more adventurous we become with our food choices. This is a consequence of longer road trips leading us into more remote locales, and the fact that we just become bored (and horrified) by eating McDonald’s meal after meal.

Food on the road, when it’s good, becomes the most memorable of meals. All of us have a story about a delicious meal eaten along a highway–I remember a guy I knew, he raved about “the best sandwiches ever” eaten along the I-5 somewhere as a child with his family. He couldn’t remember the place, alas, but that memory has been burned into his mind forever, and it still gave him an endorphin rush years later. And the great thing about road food surprises are that they truly are surprises.

We’ve been surprised by the perfect rice balls (onigiri) in Japan, by wonderful kim bap and other treats bought by the road in Korea, by prepackaged sandwiches at a gas station in France, and we’ve had plenty of nasty nondescript food at dozens of diners and cafes, all of which become a collective blur in our memory.

Seriously–a “tuna, ham, tomato, and hardboiled egg sandwich”? Do you expect that to be good? It was good. The French can make most things taste delicious. The prepackaged sandwich you see above was more delicious than most sandwiches made to order. I’m not sure how they achieve that. Nevermind the fact that tuna, ham, tomato, and hardboiled egg is such a surprisingly tasty combo. (Seriously? Seriously.)

Also delicious are the gyros at The Mad Greek, housed in a delightful blue and white building that screams, “Greek food!” Literally AND figuratively. The billboards, which line the I-15 in California for miles leading up to and from The Mad Greek are almost as obvious as the Mad Greek Cafe itself, filled with neon signs welcoming you in over a dozen languages and blue booths. Yes–when you walk in, you’ll think the world has become duo-chromatic: blue and white.

Of course, you are going to order a gyro.

It is delicious, the best that road food has to offer. You can order it 24 hours a day–the place is open at all hours, and I’m sure a welcome treat in the middle of the night. It sure was a welcome treat for us, after eating horrific food throughout the California desert. And it was NOT a burger or a patty melt or any other all-too-common food found on the road.

Plus–it’s a gyro! Gyros are terrific and yummy! We didn’t try anything else (well, other than a strawberry shake)–but I gather the other food is great. The menu is large and ranges outside of Greek food (so if you’re traveling in a group and some of you want a burger, you can get a burger).

It’s an oasis, delightfully kitschy, in the one road town of Baker along the I-15 in California, about 90 miles west of Vegas. While we were lunching, there was quite an eclectic crowd–teenage girls in shorts and flip flops (I don’t know why–it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit out), and couples and families of various sizes, ages, and ethnic backgrounds (all of them dressed appropriately for the weather). I quickly gathered this is a regular stop for many people making the drive to/from Vegas.

We’ve got a regular stop from now on too, if we should ever drive from San Francisco to Las Vegas again.

Back when I was in South Beach Miami, I drove by Joe’s Stone Crab, and lamented the fact that I wasn’t able to stop by. I’d sure heard wonderful things about the restaurant, and about stone crabs, but it was not meant to be.

So while in Las Vegas, we were giddy when we saw a sign for Joe’s Stone Crab on a billboard. Oh–put that on our list of things to eat while in town! I did some quick research to confirm that it was indeed the same Joe’s Stone Crab, and that it was indeed stone crab season…and off we went to procure reservations. (The stone crabs are apparently shipped straight from Miami to Las Vegas, coddled in dry ice, but unfrozen for dining consumption–no telling what happens in the off-season. I’m guessing the crab is frozen and not as tasty). Consensus is that the stone crabs at the Las Vegas location are not as good as the ones in Miami, but that they are still quite delicious.

And ohhhh–they are so wonderful, whether or not you choose to dip them in Joe’s special house mustard.

Even though Joe’s does an excellent job of cracking the crab so that the meat is very accessible, do be careful–I still managed to slice my thumb. The shells of the crab are thick, and evidently quite sharp (it took quite awhile to get the bleeding under control). But nonetheless, I enjoyed my dinner! And the crab!

Dinner is a bit spendy (and crabs have high cholesterol)–so this isn’t fit for everyday dining, but it sure is a great treat. And what a thrill to get stone crabs a little closer to the West Coast.

There aren’t many foods I’ve inherited from my father, mostly because he rarely ever cooks anything, being the macho guy he is. He can make a good ramen, and he can make a good “dahl-gyahl bap” (egg with rice) or “tamago kake gohan.” Growing up with this dish, I always thought it was my dad’s idiosyncratic concoction (maybe he learned it in the army? or some desperate night as a bachelor with only rice and eggs on hand?)–only recently did I learn that it is a common dish in Japan, often eaten for breakfast.

My dad taught me that a good meal was just a bowl of rice, a raw egg, and a dash of soy sauce away.

We would eat it with a side of kimchi, the spicy pickled cabbage acting as a lively foil to the mellow, creamy rice mixture. Each grain of rice would glisten with the egg, and the soy sauce would add a caramel color. It might seem odd to you (particularly the raw egg), but this is such a wholly comforting dish–and it’s still something I eat when I’m eating alone at home and need a quick bite.

And if you keep rice on hand at all times, such as in a rice cooker–you needn’t turn the stove on at all for a warm and hearty meal.